Ironman of the Day: Bill Cawthorne

EXPERIENCE: He teaches hyper fitness, a very exclusive fitness program. This will be his first Half Ironman. “I teach one of the best fitness programs around. I figured I may as well partake in one of the toughest endurance races out there,” he said. Cawthorne served in the Army infantry from 1992-98 serving in Bosnia and Germany. He was changing a truck tire when the rim blew off, sending him 20 feet into the air. He fractured the entire right side of his body, and suffering a head injury. He endured 16 years of speech and physical therapy along the way. “My whole thing is willpower,” he said. “If you have willpower, you can do anything. That’s my whole drive every day.”

GAME PLAN: Cawthorne, who’s competing as a Wounded Warrior, said he suffers joint pain all over his body the first two hours every day. The pain doesn’t subside until he gets moving. “This Ironman isn’t going to hurt any worse,” he said, “than those first two hours of the day.” Cawthorne said he doesn’t have a time goal. “Have fun,” he said. “Just enjoy it. I don’t really know what a good time is.”